


The Playing Cards

by eriah211



Series: Other Land [2]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Angst, Divergent Timelines, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 17:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10598730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eriah211/pseuds/eriah211
Summary: Helen had decided to change the past for her own purposes. Nick refuses to give up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my Other Land series. I wish I could say you don't need to read the previous ficlets, but it wouldn't be true. It makes much more sense if you know where everybody is in this AU.
> 
> Originally posted on Livejournal in 2015.
> 
> Huge thanks to the wonderful fredbassett for the beta, the many clarifications and the encouraging words. All remaining mistakes are mine and only mine.

 

Nick took a deep breath and got ready to try again.  
  
The first try had been a complete failure so he had taken his time to think carefully about his next step. He had always known that he couldn’t bring Helen down on his own, he needed help, but approaching Connor to tell him everything hadn’t been a good move. Connor was smart and a good lad, but he was totally entangled in Helen’s web of lies and Nick had just scared him away. Connor had immediately run back to Helen and told her everything, not believing a word Nick had said. Since then, Nick had hardly seen Connor in the field with the team and when he had, he had always been surrounded by soldiers all the time.  
  
Connor probably hadn’t been a very good choice, but Jenny was nowhere to be found and Stephen wasn’t an option. When the big mess-up had happened and he had seen Stephen standing there with the rest of the team, he had wanted to cry with joy, but even if he was immensely happy to see Stephen was alive in this timeline, the young man had already fallen under Helen’s spell once and she had probably made sure that this time he stayed under it. The cold stare Stephen had given Nick when he had called his name was the only hint Nick needed to stay away from him for now.  
  
That had left him with too few options and he had turned to the one person who had disliked Helen more than anyone, James Lester. He was still working for the Home Office in this reality, even though he didn’t seem to be related in any way to the ARC project, but it would have to be enough.  
  
Nick had been cautious and had paved the way for getting Lester’s trust, or at least his curiosity. Nick knew his ex-wife well enough now, even if it had taken him too long, and he couldn’t believe Helen would settle down and be happy with a bureaucratic job.  He knew she wouldn’t have given up going through anomalies on her own. He had been patient and had followed her whenever he had had a chance and he had sent anonymously to Lester every piece of information he got about suspicious meetings and her secret travels through the anomalies. To be absolutely honest, it wasn’t too much, a few dates and places and some blurry photos taken with his phone, but he hoped they had been enough to make Lester suspicious.  
  
Now Nick was waiting outside a restaurant, hoping Lester had decided to come to meet him at midday as instructed in his last note. Nick had chosen a random restaurant in the city and had crossed his fingers. He knew he needed a lot of luck for this to go well, but unfortunately this plan was all he had come up with. And right here, right now, it was starting to look like a terrible idea.  
  
If he wanted to have any chance at all, he knew he had to be convincing, he had to make clear that Helen was a danger to national security and he had to avoid the timeline change topic. For a first meeting, the explanation of alternate realities being manipulated by his ex-wife would probably be a bit too much. Although if he eventually had to explain that to Lester, he had an ace up his sleeve that he hoped it would gain him some credibility. He just wished he had had time to show it to Connor when he had tried to explain everything to him, maybe things would have been different then.  
  
Less than a minute later Nick saw Lester getting out of a taxi and walking into the restaurant and he looked at his watch. Always punctual, he thought. Well, now it was time to find out if the rest of his personality hadn’t changed much either. Nick took a deep breath and walked towards the restaurant.  
  
The place was half-empty and it didn’t take him long to spot Lester sitting alone at a table with a familiar look of annoyance on his face. Nick walked straight to him and sat down facing him.  
  
“James Lester,” Nick said directly. “I’m glad you’ve decided to come.”  
  
“Nicholas Cutter,” Lester replied. “I thought it might be a bad idea, but I was curious.”  
  
Nick was a bit surprised, but the fact that Lester had recognised him meant that he had already done some digging on the ARC project. He hoped it was a good sign.  
  
“It’s good to get over the introductions so quickly,” Nick said. “Now we can move to other more interesting topics.”  
  
Lester raised an eyebrow and smirked. The so-familiar expression made Nick realize how much he missed the old times. Lester had always been a pain in the arse, but in the end they had ended up understanding each other, most of the time, at least.  
  
“Have you taken a close look at the information I gave you?” Nick asked.  
  
“There were just some vague notes about a _supposed_ traitor working for the government and about national security being compromised,” Lester answered. “But I have to admit that you know how to catch the reader’s attention. The ‘Don’t trust her or anyone around her, you could be in danger’ introductory line is one of my favourites. And old trick to make lectures more interesting?”  
  
“It might have sounded a bit dramatic, I’ll admit that, but it’s absolutely true,” Nick replied. “It wouldn’t be the first time Helen’s tried to murder somebody.”  
  
 “And do you have any proof of that?” Lester asked nonchalantly.  
  
“She had put many lives in danger and caused the death of some good friends. I also have a bullet wound in my shoulder and she was the one that pulled the trigger. She missed because somebody tackled her, but she made her intentions very clear,” Nick said.  
  
That day, Danny had shown up just at the right moment and Nick owed him his life, although they had never managed to talk for more than five minutes without arguing. Not that it mattered now that there was no sign of Danny around the ARC.  
  
“But I’m sure my word isn’t enough, is it?” Nick added.  
  
“No it’s not,” Lester replied, looking very unimpressed.  
  
“Well, then what about the pictures I sent you?” Nick asked.  
  
“What about them, Mr Cutter?” Lester asked back. “All they show, and rather blurrily I have to add, is your ex-wife with some unknown people, or near a big shiny light. Do you actually have any proof of any kind to back up your accusations of treason?”  
  
“Big shiny light?” Nick repeated dumbfounded.  “You don’t even know what an anomaly is, do you?”  
  
Lester didn’t say anything, but the blank look on his face told Nick all he needed to know. He felt his hope sinking.  
  
“I thought at least you’d have learnt about the ARC project,” he said to Lester. “This just makes it all more difficult. If you don’t know about the anomalies you can’t know how dangerous they can be, how dangerous it is to leave the ARC in the hands of somebody like Helen.”  
  
“Because it’d be better in somebody else’s hands? Like yours, for example?” Lester asked.  
  
“What? No!” Nick answered bewildered. “Look, this was obviously a bad idea...”  
  
“I couldn’t agree more,” Lester said as he made a sign to the waiter.  
  
“You have to keep digging and learn about the anomalies, and then you’ll understand how serious the situation is,” Nick said standing up. “But you should be careful, Helen won’t like you sticking your nose into-”  
  
A strong grip on his shoulder stopped him on his tracks. When he turned around he saw the waiter showing a warrant card to him. Two police officers in uniform were walking into the restaurant straight towards them. Nick turned to Lester in disbelief and horror while the fake waiter started talking.  
  
“Nicholas Cutter, you’re under arrest for the harassment of Helen Cutter...”  
  
He wasn’t really listening any more; all he could do while they handcuffed him was think how he had fucked everything up. The great plan had sunk even before it started and now he couldn’t run anywhere. Even if he managed to break loose and run from the waiter, where would he go? To hide in the toilets? In the movies there was always a back door, but if this had been a movie, he would have convinced Lester and they would be now planning how to take down the evil villain over some drinks. But Lester was just standing there, looking at his watch with an exasperated look on his face.  
  
“You don’t know what’s really happening! You have to stop her!” Nick shouted at him while they were bringing him out. “She’s dangerous! Please, James, don’t turn your back on this!”

 

.


	2. Chapter 2

Lester looked at his watch in annoyance while the police officers carried Nicholas Cutter away. And of course the man had to make it even more dramatic by shouting while they were bringing him outside.

“You don’t know what’s really happening! You have to stop her! She’s dangerous! Please, James, don’t turn your back on this!”

Lester sighed heavily. He hated to admit it, but that part was right, he didn’t know what was going on.

When the mysterious notes started to arrive, it had been surprising and also slightly exciting. He hadn’t heard about the ARC before or about somebody named Helen Cutter. The anonymous notes didn’t offer much information, but if the national security was compromised it would have been reckless to ignore them. He didn’t want to look like a gullible idiot, though, so he decided to do some checking on his own first. If he found something strange, he’d thought at that moment, he would send the information to his superiors.

The anonymous informant said that a traitor had compromised one of the most dangerous projects of the Ministry, the ARC project, and had pointed directly at Helen Cutter, insisting that she was very dangerous. The first step had been easy, he had to learn what the hell that ARC project was and what part Helen Cutter played in it. Unfortunately, his request for information only got him a standard blurb full of anodyne nonsense, some vague description of a job for the national security. The only interesting information he got was that Helen Cutter was, in fact, the director of the project. They had their own SF back-up, vehicles and base, all very new and very secret and it looked like nobody wanted to share anything relevant about what kind of work they really did there.

Other anonymous notes arrived, not adding much information, but insisting that she was dirty and that she had her own agenda, which could put the public in danger. They still didn’t offer a single proof, but those photographs of strange lights were curious, to say the least. Although he knew it all could be just some photoshop manipulation, of course; maybe somebody was just making fun of him, trying to make him look like a fool.

After a few more failed attempts at getting more information about the project, Lester started to get bored and since he already had his own work to do, he finally decided to inform his superior and make it his problem, let him be the one to decide if it was relevant information or not.

Lester had thought that had been the last of it. He had been ordered to immediately hand over any note that arrived in the future and nothing else, which was fine by him. And then the note setting a personal meeting had arrived and he was summoned to Home Secretary and there informed that they needed him to go to that meeting and play bait. It was suspected, they told him, that the person behind the anonymous notes was Helen Cutter’s ex-husband, a perturbed man that had been harassing his ex-wife for a long time.

“This is the man, Professor Nicholas Cutter,” the Minister said, showing him a picture. “Have you seen him before?”

The man in the picture, obviously one of those official photos for academic profiles, looked very bored and as if he wanted to be doing anything else instead of posing for a photograph. He didn’t look perturbed at all, but you never knew.

“I’ve never seen him before, that I recall,” he answered. “Is he dangerous?”

“Don’t worry; your safety won’t be compromised,” the man said. “There will be police officers in place, ready to arrest him. We just can’t let a lunatic wander around putting one of our projects at risk.”

Of course nobody had thought it was necessary to talk further about the ARC project in his presence so he had been a good boy and had agreed to play his part. He had to admit that he was slightly curious about the whole thing and wanted to meet the man anyway, perturbed or not. And when they had met, well, Cutter might not have given the most convincing first impression ever, but he hadn’t looked like a complete lunatic.

And now they were taking him away and everybody was going to bury the incident and he was never going to find out what was happening. Because there was certainly something going on and that ARC project was very important. But they expected him to go back to his paperwork and ask no more questions.

Lester took out his phone and looked for the ARC’s number. He had tried to talk to Helen Cutter a few times, using some administrative issues as excuse, but he had got blocked by a very determined assistant every single time. She had politely offered to send him information, had apologized profusely because Dr. Cutter was in a meeting and overall, had found many other excuses to not let him talk to her. Now, Lester decided as he dialled the number again, he might just have a chance to talk to the mysterious woman, if he played his cards right.

“The ARC,” the same female voice as usual answered.

The screeching sound of a car on the street got people’s attention and some of them got closer to the windows and started talking excitedly, so Lester had to move to the back of the restaurant to avoid the noise.

“I would like to speak with Helen Cutter, please,” Lester said.

“I’m sorry, but Dr Cutter is-“ the woman replied immediately.

“Tell her that I have just had a very interesting chat with Nicholas Cutter, miss, I’m sure she will find a moment for me,” Lester cut her. “My name is James Lester, from the Immigration Department.”

After a second of silence, he was put on hold.

.


	3. Chapter 3

When they took him out of the restaurant, Nick saw there was a police van already waiting outside, just a few metres away. Before he had time to think what to do or what to say, if there was anything he could say at all, they got to the van and one of the police officers opened the back door to get Nick inside. And there, as if the day hadn’t been surprising enough, Nick saw no other than Danny Quinn.

“Having a bad day too, lad?” Danny asked him cheerfully, shaking his cuffs.

Nick just gaped and stared at him wondering if he was finally losing his mind. In the van, Danny just looked back at him with a very familiar cheeky grin on his face.

The officer at his back pushed Nick, urging him to get into the van, but he had only put one foot inside when he heard a crackling sound and saw the officer that was holding the door fall to the ground shaking.

“Oi!” the other police officer shouted, trying to get the driver’s attention, while he pushed Nick inside roughly.

Then a hissing sound came from the front of the vehicle and Nick saw that a cloud of smoke was starting to fill the place, making the driver cough uncontrollably. There was another crackling sound behind him and when he turned his head to the door, Nick saw the other officer falling down shaking. A second later a short, skinny man dressed in black and wearing a ski mask appeared with a taser in his hands.

The driver, still coughing, got out of the van, but then there was a thump against the side of the vehicle and the coughing stopped and instead of a furious police officer, a bulkier masked man appeared at the van door holding a bat, just as a car skidded to a stop beside them.

“Time to go, man!” the taller man shouted. “What are you waiting for?”

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Danny said, jumping out of the vehicle.

Well, crazy or not, it looked like they had an escape plan and he couldn’t just go around running in cuffs so Nick followed the masked men and got inside their car before they had the chance to close the door.

“Hey, man! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” the taller man said.

“We don’t have time for discussions,” Danny said from the front. “Just drive!”

A third masked man drove them out of there at full speed without more words. Nick and the two other men were squeezed in the back of the car, but he wasn’t going to complain at all, he was lucky they weren’t trying to throw him out of the moving car. He just hoped his luck would last a bit longer.

“We need to find some place to hide, we can’t drive around forever!” a female voice said. “They’re going to be onto us in a minute!”

Surprised, Nick realized that the skinny masked man was, in fact, a woman. Not the biggest surprise of the day though.

“We could go to the old... place,” the taller man glanced at Nick and faltered. “You know... that place.”

“Very eloquent, lad,” Danny said. “I know that place, but we’re just driving in the opposite direction.”

“Well, we didn’t have much time for planning, you know?” the driver replied. “I think we are doing well, all things considered.”

“But we can’t take this guy with us!” the taller man said. “He could grass on us!”

“We still have to find a safe place, boys. Focus!” the woman said.

“OK, does anybody know this area?” Danny asked. “Any place we could use?”

“I know a place,” Nick said.

Everybody turned to look at him, except for the driver, for which Nick was really grateful.

“There is a place, not far away. I’ve been hiding there for a few weeks now,” Nick added. “But we can’t park this car in front of the door.”

“Of course not! Do you think we’re idiots?” the driver said, offended.

Seconds later they drove into an empty alley and they stopped.

“Can we get there on foot from here?” the driver asked.

Nick was relieved to see that he still knew that part of the city. They were close enough.

“Yes, if we hurry up, we could make it,” he answered.

“Are you crazy? Why would we buy this guy’s shit?” the taller man said. “We don‘t even know who he is!”

“Well, this is an emergency, we have to get out of this car and disappear now,” Danny said. “If any of you has a better idea, this is the moment to say it.”

The taller man huffed, but didn’t say anything and they all got out of the car.

“Look, I think we should split up,” Danny said to his partners. “Nobody has seen your faces yet, if you change your clothes and lose the masks, you could walk away freely.”

“Are you shitting me? I’m not going to leave you alone with this guy after I went to all that trouble to rescue you!” the driver protested.

“Oh, so you went to a lot of trouble because of me?” Danny said. “Why was I in the police van in the first place, huh?”

“So now it’s my fault that you let them catch you like a newbie?”

“What? A newbie?”

The two men continued the friendly bickering as if they had all the time of the world. Meanwhile, the other two, obviously used to such situations, spoke quietly a few steps away from Nick.

“OK, I don’t like this too much, but it looks like it’s the best plan,” the woman finally said to Danny.

The tall man nodded and walked towards the car. He took a bag from the boot and opened it to take some clothes out.

“I’ll go with the big troublemaker here,” the driver said. “We’ll be OK, don’t worry.”

“Be careful, OK?” the woman said as the three men started walking away. “You know how to find us when everything has calmed down!”

“You lead, man!” the driver said taking off his mask and throwing it to the nearest bin.

He was younger than Danny, with dark, curly hair. He didn’t ring any bells for Nick, but there had been so many changes around that he wasn’t surprised or worried about it.

“But we can’t go around in cuffs,” Nick said, showing them his hands.

“Oh, I’ve already taken care of mine,” Danny said smirking as he showed the open cuffs in his hand. “We’ll deal with yours when we get to that safe place of yours.”

Danny folded his jacket and put it over Nick’s hands to disguise the cuffs. Then he clapped Nick’s shoulder encouragingly and kept walking.

 

***

“Unfortunately for the local businesses, it looks like there are a lot of closed shops in the city,” Nick explained when they got to his hideout.

“A furniture store. Not a bad choice!” Danny said appraisingly.

“It’s easy to sneak in and out without being noticed,” Nick shrugged. “And there even were some pieces of furniture left. It’s comfortable.”

“Well then, now that we’re all comfortable, why don’t you tell us your story, man?” the younger man said.

“Why don’t I tell you while you take these off me?” Nick said raising his handcuffed hands. “And then you can tell me yours. That was quite an escape you pulled through.”

The younger man looked proudly at Danny, but he just rolled his eyes dramatically.

“We had only like five minutes after they took you away!” the young man said to Danny. “I knew if they got you into the police station there’d be no way to break you out, so we had to rescue you before that. Fortunately they made a stop on their way to pick up this guy and that bought us some time.”

“What were you arrested for?” Nick asked carefully.

“Some misunderstanding about a car that I didn’t even want in the first place” Danny answered, looking pointedly at his partner.

“And what about you?” the younger man asked Nick, ignoring Danny’s glare.

“A ruse by my ex-wife,” Nick answered briefly.

“Rough split-up?” Danny asked.

“You could say that,” Nick answered, smiling bitterly. “She seems determined to destroy my life.”

“That sucks,” Danny said sympathetically. “I’ve already heard that song a few times, man.”

“Probably not like this one, but thanks anyway,” Nick replied. “And now, my cuffs, please?”

“Sure, it’ll just take a minute,” Danny said grinning.

In fact it took him about two minutes to open the cuffs, but Nick was amazed anyway. He wondered if Danny had to force cuffs very often in this reality, but then he decided he really didn’t want to know.

“So, this place’s safe?” the young man asked, looking dubious.

“I’ve been using it for a few weeks, but there’s no way to be 100% sure,” Nick admitted. “I try not to stay for long in the same place anyway.”

Nick had been terribly lucky to have Helen’s anomaly opening device with him when everything had changed. It was the one she had lost in her haste to get away after she had tried to murder him and it had given him a great advantage, since it didn’t look like anybody in the ARC used or knew this technology at all. Well, Nick had seen Helen using it in her secret travelling through the anomalies, but she wasn’t sharing them with the others. She obviously still liked to have her secrets and an ace or two up her sleeve.

“We’ll have to find another place soon then,” Danny said.

“I have somewhere to go,” Nick said feeling the inside pocket of his jacket.

He was also lucky the police officers didn’t have time to take the opening device from him. He could go to the nearest anomaly site and disappear, but he didn’t know what to do about his new friends. He could take them with him, but he wasn’t sure what their reaction would be. He basically looked like the old Danny, but anomalies were difficult to wrap one’s head around them. Although it would be great to finally have somebody on his side.

“We’ll wait a bit longer and then we’ll go on our way” Danny said before Nick had time to make up his mind. “It’s been a pleasure, I wish we’d met in different circumstances and all that.”

Nick had to make an effort not to sporfle at that. If he only knew. Well, maybe there was one thing Danny had to know, he thought, just in case.

“Look, I’m very grateful you got me out of that mess, but my ex won’t be,” Nick said to them. “She’s dangerous, so if you ever cross paths with her, be careful.”

Nick took his phone and showed Danny one of Helen’s pictures. He was waiting for a snarky retort or funny comment from Danny, but what he wasn’t expecting was the look of shock on his face.

“That woman!” Danny said grabbing Nick’s hand to turn the phone to his friend.

The younger man also seemed surprised by Danny’s reaction and just looked at his friend questioningly.

“It’s the woman that warned me you were in danger in that house!” Danny said.

The younger man paled and looked again at the photo, but he still didn’t seem to recognize Helen.

“She helped me to save my brother many years ago. What’s all this?” Danny asked to Nick, still grabbing his hand tightly.

Something finally clicked in Nick’s head. Helen had been so smart. It looked like it was time for the truth after all, Nick thought.

“So that’s Patrick then,” Nick said, gaining more shocked expressions from both men.

“How do you know my name?” Patrick asked suspiciously.

“It’s a long story and it’s hard to explain, but there’s something I have to show you and then you’ll understand it better,” Nick said. “We’ll be safer there anyway.”

“Why would we follow you anywhere?” Danny said, letting go of Nick’s hand.

“Because she’s been playing with you both as well all these years,” Nick answered. “Please, just give me a chance to explain.”

“If this is a fucking trick...” Patrick said menacingly.

“If this is a fucking trick I want to hear it anyway,” Danny said. “Let’s go then, but you get the handcuffs again, just to be sure.”

.


	4. Chapter 4

 

Not far away from the hideout, there was a location where Nick could open an anomaly to the Jurassic. He had used it a few times and it was a relatively safe place, if they were careful, so he decided it was his best option. Going further to get to a different anomaly would be too risky; the police were probably still looking for them. They should have waited a bit longer before going out to the streets again, but patience wasn’t one of Danny’s virtues and as soon as it was dark, he’d decided it was time to go.  
  
It didn’t take Nick much effort to convince Danny and his brother to go through the anomaly with him, but that didn’t surprise him much. He already knew that fear didn’t get in Danny’s way for too long if there was an adventure ahead and, as it seemed, it was a family thing.  
  
Once on the other side, Nick closed the anomaly behind them and watched as both brothers stared excitedly around like children on a Christmas morning. It made him remember the first time he’d gone through an anomaly himself, almost a lifetime ago. It had been a moment of wonder; it had opened so many possibilities and offered so many answers and so many questions that he hadn’t looked at the world the same way after that.  
  
Nick gave them some time to wonder at the new world and then he briefly tried to explain the whole thing, but it ended up being a long lecture with lots of questions and more than a few disbelieving stares. He had been right, if he hadn’t brought them here, there was no way they would have believed him. Hell, they were literally in a different world, staring at a herd of stegosaurus and they still had trouble getting their heads around a few bits of Nick’s story.  
  
“Even if all you’ve said is true, it doesn’t look as if changing the past has been such a bad thing,” Danny said, obviously thinking about his brother.  
  
“Look, let’s make this clear, if it had suited her plans better, Helen wouldn’t have hesitated to kill your brother,” Nick said. “You were just lucky that it was good for her to save Patrick. Many people were affected by her actions and I doubt all of them were that lucky.”  
  
 “And you said my brother was a copper?” Patrick asked incredulously.  
  
Danny sporfled, obviously amused at the thought.  
  
“I think he just thought it would help him to investigate your disappearance, I doubt it was vocational, considering his lack of respect for authority,” Nick replied honestly. “But now, please, can you finally take these off me? We have to go and this is a dangerous place to be handcuffed.”  
  
“You’re in a hurry to be somewhere?” Danny asked.  
  
“Well, this isn’t a theme park; we have to find a shelter. Fortunately there’s a cave not far away, we can keep talking there.”  
  
“But we could go back, right?” Patrick asked nervously. “I mean, you can use that thing again to open the anomaly, can’t you?”  
  
Trust a Quinn to think about the consequences of his actions after a while, Nick thought. That idea didn’t seem to have crossed their minds when they’d gone through the anomaly in the first place.  
  
“Yes, we could go back,” Nick reassured him. “But the police are still after us back there. They can’t find us here and if we’re careful and don’t attract unwanted attention, we should be safe.”  
  
“Well, we can stay here for a while then,” Danny said happily as he released Nick from his handcuffs again. “We don’t have anything urgent to do, right, Patrick?”  
  
Nick thought about his own urgent matters and sighed. It was already too late to stop plan B and get the parcel back from the courier office.  
  
In case something went wrong, he had left a package to be delivered the next day to the only other person around that he could trust to see what Helen was really doing and hopefully do something about it. The plan was to retrieve it before the end of the day in case everything went fine, but that had obviously not happened and so, Lorraine Wilkes was soon going to receive a copy of every piece of information he had managed to gather against Helen.  
  


 

***

 

  
The cave was close and he had used it a few times, so there were still some things lying around that they could use now, like the torches Nick had made in case he needed to keep away unwanted visitors.  
  
They got as comfortable as they could and Nick tried to explain everything again. And he thought it was time to use the ace that he had up his sleeve. He hadn’t had time to use it with Lester, but he hoped it would be enough to convince Danny and his brother once and for all. He wasn’t sure they could do much to help, but he would definitely feel less alone with them on his side.  
  
Nick took out his phone and looked for the video Abby had recorded at the last Christmas party in the ARC. He hadn’t even noticed Abby had picked up his phone until he had seen her filming around the atrium, but it hadn’t bothered him, they all had been in a very festive mood, and maybe a little bit drunk, to care. He had totally forgotten about it until one day, after the timeline had changed, when he was looking at old photos, feeling sad and lonely. Then he had found the video and had seen the familiar faces, smiling, bickering, drinking and throwing confetti around. Lester appeared in it, frowning slightly at the mess, but probably just more for the show than anything. And of course, Danny Quinn appeared too, teasing his friends and very specially, Lester.  
  
“Well, I hope this will convince you both,” Nick said, showing them the video. “I hope you won’t think I’m that good at video manipulation.”  
  
Nick looked at their faces while they watched the video and thanked the universe internally for his phone having a full battery. He had managed to copy the video to a flash drive and had sent it in the package to Lorraine, who also appeared briefly in it. He hoped it would be enough to convince her as well.  
  
When the video ended, both brothers stared at him without saying a word. Patrick still seemed a bit suspicious, but Danny looked deadly serious. Nick could see the wheels turning in his head and he knew Danny well enough to be a bit worried about that.

 

.


	5. Chapter 5

 

“I really don’t know what to do about it, Tom,” Lorraine said. “The package arrived yesterday and I have been looking at all this over and over again, but I still don’t know if I should tell somebody or not. I guess I could just ignore it... But you’ve seen the video too, that can’t have been faked, can it? Or maybe it can and I’m just being foolish...”  
  
Lorraine picked up one of the photos from the small pile of documents in front of her and looked at it for a moment before letting it down on the table again, sighing.  
  
“Sorry, I asked you to come because I need some friendly advice and I don’t let you say a word,” she said. “Thank you for listening to me, Tom. You’re a good friend.”  
  
“No worries at all, Lorraine,” Tom said smiling. “Who else could I be talking to seriously about timelines and time travel? But you’re paying for the drinks today.”  
  
Tom Ryan was probably the best thing she had got out of a relationship that had sunk some time ago. He was one of her boyfriend’s pals and they’d immediately got along very well, so she had felt relieved when, after the relationship was over, Tom didn’t just disappear into thin air. In fact, they almost worked together on the ARC project, but Tom had only got to work as captain of the SF team for a day before he was reassigned. It had been a big disappointment, but at least now she still had somebody to talk about the ARC and the anomalies without having to worry about the Official Secrets Act.  
  
They were sitting in a discreet corner of the pub, having some beers. It was early in the evening, so the pub wasn’t too crowded as yet and they didn’t have to worry about people eavesdropping their conversation.  
  
“If I didn’t know about the anomalies, this would sound ridiculous, but we know how many possibilities they offer,” Lorraine said. “Honestly, do you think I’m overreacting?”  
  
Tom looked thoughtfully at her before answering.  
  
“I think you’re worried because you think this might be true,” he finally said. “If you thought this was just bullshit, you wouldn’t be worried at all, you would have given it to Helen Cutter straight away.”  
  
Lorraine picked up one photograph and showed it to him.  
  
“This little device Helen’s holding here, the one that Nicholas Cutter describes as ‘anomaly opening device’,” she said pointing at it. “I saw it in Helen’s office once. She put it in a drawer when I came in, but I had time to take a good look at it and it’s the same thing... Of course, it could be anything...”  
  
“But it’s not just that...” Tom continued for her.  
  
Lorraine thought about the mysterious absences, the unexplained sources of information, the manipulation. She wasn’t blind, she had seen how differently Helen acted around people, especially with Connor and Captain Becker. She had them wrapped around her little finger. Helen had tried to use the same tricks on her a few times, but Lorraine had just played dumb. It had worked fine and Helen had ignored her from then on, probably thinking Lorraine wasn’t worth the effort, but she had kept her eyes and ears open.  
  
“There are a lot of small things that don’t look right,” Lorraine said. “But it’s more a feeling than anything...”  
  
“You don’t trust her,” Tom concluded for her.  
  
Lorraine looked at Tom and sighed. “No, I don’t,” she finally admitted.  
  
Lorraine took the handwritten note that Nicholas Cutter had left for her on top of the folder of documents and read the last paragraph again.  
  
 _‘I know it’s a long shot, but now there aren’t many people I trust to do the right thing and one of them is you, Lorraine. I know you are an honest and intelligent person, so she can’t have fooled you. If nothing else, at least be careful and keep your eyes open and please, take care of the people in the ARC, who once were my dear friends. In a few hours I’m going to meet another one of them, James Lester, and I really hope he is still a friend, but if you are reading this, then things probably haven’t gone well.’_  
  
“James Lester has tried to get in touch with Helen a few times, but she has always refused to talk to him, until the other day, when he said he had talked with her ex-husband,” Lorraine said. “She was in a terrible mood the rest of the day after that phone call.”  
  
“They arrested him, but he got away, right?” Tom asked. “I’m not surprised she was in a bad mood.”  
  
“She was angry before the police called,” Lorraine pointed out. “She seemed to get in a dark mood whenever Lester phoned.”  
  
Nicholas Cutter’s notes said Lester had been the director of the ARC and that Helen had manipulated people’s lives to keep him and many other people away from the anomalies so she had freedom to do as she pleased. Lorraine remembered the video and shivered. She had seen herself talking and smiling to some people she didn’t even know, but it looked like they had been good friends.  
  
“Has anybody ever told you why you were reassigned after your first day at the ARC?” Lorraine asked.  
  
It was something that had always bothered her. That day she had come with Helen to greet the new SF team, glad to see her friend was going to be close to her in that new and amazing job and she clearly remembered Helen’s shocked expression when Tom stepped forward to shook her hand. It faded quickly, replaced by a polite, professional smile, but Helen hadn’t been in a very good mood that day, either.  
  
“Not really, they just told us we had a more urgent mission and they sent us abroad a few days later.” Tom shrugged. “It happens sometimes.”  
  
“I still have Lester’s phone number... and his home address,” Lorraine said slowly. “He had been talking with Nicholas Cutter, he might have more information about this.”  
  
“And you want to talk to him,” Tom deduced. “How did you get his home address anyway?”  
  
“It’s the address he gave to be sent information about the ARC when he first phoned; we sent him the standard blurb,” Lorraine answered innocently.  
  
“I’m starting to think that you haven’t called me just to have some drinks and a talk,” Tom said with a mischievous smile. “It sounds like you already have a plan...”  
  
“But I needed a friend to stop me if it was a terrible idea,” Lorraine replied smiling. “So, what do you say? It’s not too late to pay somebody a visit, is it?”

 

.


	6. Chapter 6

 

“I think this has been a terrible idea,” Nick said, horrified.  
  
“It was your idea!” Danny replied.  
  
“No, it wasn’t!”  
  
“You wanted to explain everything to Lester,” Danny insisted. “Well, now you have the chance, he isn’t going anywhere.”  
  
“And he won’t be calling the police any time soon,” Patrick added while playing with a very expensive mobile phone that wasn’t his.  
  
“I really don’t think this is going to help us to gain his trust,” Nick said.  
  
Lester, tied to a chair in his living room and gagged with his own tie, looked furious and not understanding at all. At first, Danny’s suggestion of trying to talk to Lester again and show him the video and the anomalies hadn’t sounded that bad. Maybe it hadn’t been a very elaborate plan, but he had still hoped Lester would listen to him and help them. Unfortunately the whole thing hadn’t gone the way Nick had originally thought.  
  
“You should go to the front door and check the way is clear,” Danny whispered to his brother. “We don’t want his cleaning lady or a neighbour to appear and surprise us.”  
  
Patrick nodded and walked to the front door, still playing with Lester’s phone.  
  
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Danny said to Nick. “It took me a lot of effort to get his address; we should make good use of our chance here.”  
  
“A lot of effort?” Nick said. “You just played the dumb messenger part in his office and the receptionist was naive enough to fall for it.”  
  
“But I had to use all my charm and be very convincing,” Danny said, grinning.  
  
Nick sighed and turned to Lester, who was still glaring daggers at them. Maybe they should have tried to get in touch with Lorraine after all, but it was too late to have second thoughts now.  If they wanted to have any chance at this Nick knew he had to cut it short and use his best proof, so he took out his phone and played the video of the Christmas party.  
  
“This is probably going to be a long conversation, but I want you to take a good look at this first and then I’ll explain to you what’s really going on,” Nick said turning the phone to Lester.  
  
  


 

***

 

  
  
An hour later things hadn’t improved at all for them. Lester had got his tie out of his mouth in order to have a real ‘conversation’, but it was clear that he was more than sceptical about the story he had just heard. Not even the video seemed to have impressed him for too long since he had soon started claiming they were very good special effects and nothing more.  
  
“We’ll have to show him them,” Danny said, his patience long lost.  
  
“Haven’t you finished yet?” Patrick said from the hall.  
  
“The guy isn’t convinced, we’re going to have to take him for a walk,” Danny said to him. “Go take the car and meet us on the front in five minutes.”  
  
Nick heard Patrick going out of the front door and he stared thoughtfully at Lester, trying to decide if it was safe to untie him. Lester was now looking a bit more nervous, probably wondering what kind of walk his kidnappers were planning and he couldn’t blame him, they probably looked like a bunch of lunatics to him.  
  
“We’re going to take you to see an anomaly with your own eyes, Lester,” Nick said to him. “I hope it’ll help you to understand.”  
  
“An anomaly?” Lester said, curiosity taking over slightly from his fear.  
  
“Wait till you go through one, man,” Danny said smiling widely, “It’s like a sci-fi movie!”  
  
“We mean you no harm,” Nick said staring seriously at Lester’s eyes. “We just want you to see it. I really hope you’ll believe me then, but if you don’t, I promise we won’t be bothering you again.”  
  
Lester was still quiet and serious, as though he was considering Nick’s words, when they heard the door opening and closing again.  
  
“That was fast, Patrick. Something happened?” Danny asked surprised.  
  
“You could say so,” Patrick said as he entered the room.  
  
Nick immediately recognized the man that came into the room holding a gun to Patrick’s back. And the one that came in after him. It wasn’t difficult considering they had the same face and that he had seen many copies of the same man over the years. The second clone pointed a gun at them and ordered them to raise their hands. Then Helen Cutter made her grand entrance.  
  
“Lester doesn’t have to follow that order, but you two should,” she said as she walked slowly into the room. “They tend to be quite zealous about their tasks.”  
  
“You can’t complain about it, you made them that way,” Nick retorted angrily.  
  
“I’m not complaining, I’m merely warning you,” Helen replied smiling sweetly. “I would hate it if this reunion got interrupted abruptly because of a sudden movement.”  
  
Nick, Danny and Patrick slowly raised their hands while Lester gaped from his place on the chair. The clone took Lester’s phone from Patrick’s hand and threw it away before pushing him to make him join his brother at the back of the room.  
  
“Well, gentlemen, this is a situation I have never wanted to get to,” Helen started. “I worked really hard to keep you away from me and the ARC, so this is very, very disappointing.”

 

.


	7. Chapter 7

 

“So it’s really you,” Danny said. “You’re the exact same woman that warned me about my brother 20 years ago!”  
  
 “Yes, Mr Quinn. I was very generous, I think, going back to that moment to save you and your brother from your personal drama,” Helen said. “That’s why I’m so disappointed. I gave you a precious gift, I gave you your brother back and you have still come back to bother me when I least expected it.”  
  
“So, you’re saying that it’s true?” Patrick said. “Everything he told us! What he said about the time-travelling through the anomalies!”  
  
“It took me many calculations and a lot of planning and still, here we are,” Helen said, sighing dramatically. “But this is your fault, Nick. If you had let go, we wouldn’t be in this situation now.”  
  
“Should I have let you rule the ARC as you pleased, deceiving everybody?” Nick demanded. “I know you don’t really care about it, why do you even do it?”  
  
“To keep everyone involved under control, Nick,” Helen answered. “I’m just making sure the ARC project doesn’t end up causing the destruction of the Earth.”  
  
“Very altruistic,” Nick replied. “It doesn’t sound like you at all.”  
  
“Well, I’ll admit that it has some advantages,” Helen said, smirking. “But it leaves me very little time for other activities and the paperwork is hideous.”  
  
“My heart bleeds for you,” Nick deadpanned. “It’s a pity that you don’t have much time to travel through the anomalies on your own so often now.”  
  
Helen frowned slightly, but she recovered her smile almost immediately. “Oh, I still do it sometimes. After all, debts and favours have to be paid somehow and people get incredibly generous if you have technology from the future or rare specimens to trade.”  
  
“I have never taken you for a smuggler, Helen,” Nick said. “How does trading in creatures fit in your plan to protect Earth from humanity?”  
  
“Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.”  
  
Out of the corner of his eye Nick saw that Lester was gaping, completely surprised by Helen’s words. Danny and Patrick, on the other hand, looked very interested in their conversation and Nick was worried they had just discovered a new line of business.  
  
“From what I’ve heard, you have just openly admitted the charges your ex-husband has accused you of,” Lester eventually said.  
  
“Oh, Lester, you’ve finally managed to catch up,” Helen said, faking surprise. “You are a persistent little man, do you know that?”  
  
“You didn’t seem very willing to share any information, Mrs Cutter,” Lester replied. “So I had to persist.”  
  
“Oh, and you certainly did,” Helen agreed. “But you should have let it go, Lester. Curiosity isn’t always a good thing.”  
  
“And refusing phone calls and meetings isn’t the correct way to avert suspicion, in case you haven’t noticed,” Lester replied dryly.  
  
“But we did talk on the phone after all, didn’t we? And I tried so hard to convince you that everything was fine,” Helen said. “But I knew you definitely wouldn’t let it go after your meeting with Nick. And so here we are now.”  
  
“What exactly are you doing here, Helen?” Nick said.  
  
“I just came to have the meeting Lester has been so persistently asking for,” Helen said innocently.  
  
“And may I ask if you usually bring two thugs with you to all your meetings?” Lester said.  
  
“It’s always good to be cautious,” Helen said. “And this time it’s really been a good decision because I have just found a colleague of the Ministry being attacked by some delinquents that had recently escaped from the police.”  
  
Helen’s smug smile worried Nick deeply. This was definitely looking bad for all of them, so bad that right now the prospect of being handed to the police sounded like their best option and he wasn’t sure Helen was considering it. By the look on their faces, Danny and his brother had also realized that and Nick found himself hoping they had another great escape planned for situations like this.  
  
Then Helen took a gun out of her pocket and walked slowly to him. The Quinn brothers tensed immediately, but before they had the chance to do anything stupid or heroic, Helen made a sign to the clones and in two fast strides they got to them and hit them on the head with guns, knocking them unconscious.  
  
“Now, now, Nick,” Helen said standing in front of him. “What should I do with you?”  
  
Helen tilted her head and the look on her face softened slightly.  
  
“You could have just stayed away,” Helen said. “It would have been easy like that.”  
  
“I’ve already told you, Helen,” Nick replied. “I can’t watch you play God and do nothing. You shouldn’t have altered everything so it would suit your twisted plans.”  
  
Helen’s look hardened again and she smirked. “Sometimes you have to take some risks-“ she began.  
  
“Yes, for the greater good,” Nick interrupted. “You’ve already said that. I just don’t think your idea of the greater good is the same idea as the rest of us have.”  
  
“I’m starting to believe that your husband has a point, Mrs Cutter,” Lester said. “I don’t know how it is possible that nobody has seen it until now. The selection process for the ARC personnel has been extremely deficient, if you ask me.”  
  
Helen turned to stand in front of Lester, with a disdainful smile on her face and the clones walked to stand at her sides.  
  
“There are loads of greedy people in all the ranks of the Ministry, Lester,” Helen explained to him while she put her gun back in her pocket. “Some are even cheaper than police officers, in fact.”  
  
“And if they aren’t ready to take a bribe you just make them disappear, like you are planning to do with us,” Nick said. “Like you did with the others.”  
“Some people’s disappearances were inevitable,” Helen replied shrugging. “Some others were just accidental.”  
  
Nick thought of Jenny and felt his anger rise. He stared at Helen in silence while he tried really hard to remember the time when looking at his wife had made his heart flutter with something other than apprehension _._  
  
“We’ll have time to discuss this later, Nick,” Helen finally said. “Now we have to go.”  
  
She leant over Lester and used his tie to gag him again. Lester’s offended look would have made Nick laugh if the situation wasn’t so worrying.  
  
“Where are we going?” Nick asked.  
  
“I’m late for a meeting, so I have to go. And it looks like you’re going to come with me,” Helen answered, walking towards the door.  
  
“Make sure he gets into our car without making a fuss,” she said to one of the clones. “We don’t want to attract people’s attention.”  
  
The man walked to Nick’s side and signalled him towards the door with his gun. Nick took two steps forward, but then stopped and called to Helen before she got out the door.  
  
“What happens to them?” Nick asked.  
  
Helen looked at the two unconscious men on the floor and then at Lester. Nick thought he saw for a moment a bit of sadness on his ex-wife’s face, but it disappeared so quickly that he wasn’t sure.  
  
“Meeting with Lester was a very unfortunate decision, Nick” Helen said. “And adding Quinn and his brother to this has only made it worse. When I came here I only wanted to see what Lester really knew and I found you all here conspiring together. This could spiral out of control very fast, so I fear I have to take a drastic decision now.”  
  
“Helen, don’t...” Nick begged.  
  
“Wait five minutes and then burn the place down,” she said to the second clone. “Two well-known delinquents assaulting the house of a respectable civil servant and a fire that gets out of control. The police won’t ask many questions.”  
  
“You can’t do this, Helen!” Nick shouted. “I won’t let you do this! I won’t go anywhere with you and your th-“  
  
Nick turned furiously to face the clone that was behind him just in time to see the butt of the man’s gun before it hit his head and then everything went black.

 

.


	8. Chapter 8

 

“This doesn’t look good,” Lorraine said when they saw the unconscious man being carried into the car on the street.  
  
This was definitely looking terribly bad and Tom hoped that the twilight and the ornamental bushes by the road were enough to cover the car they were in, because he was sure the man who was carrying the unconscious guy over his shoulder had a gun and there was a second man in the house. Helen Cutter was looking around nonchalantly, as if she was just an innocent bystander, but Tom was already suspecting they had to be very careful with that woman.  
  
After another long look around the street, Helen walked towards the car and sat on the driver’s seat while the other man sat in the back, beside the unconscious man.  
  
“Did the unconscious guy look like James Lester?” Tom asked Lorraine.  
  
“I’ve only seen the photo on the Home Office website, but I don’t think so. He was dark-haired and this man was blond, I think,” Lorraine answered. “It isn’t the guy that opened the door for them either.”  
  
Their impromptu visit to Lester’s home had quickly turned into a whole new situation when they had seen Helen Cutter herself and two menacing men forcing a third man to let them into the house. Tom didn’t know what was going on, but he thought this proved that Lorraine’s suspicions weren’t groundless, to say the least.  
  
Helen’s car started and Tom knew he had to take a decision fast. There was at least another man held at gunpoint in Lester’s house.  
  
“I have to see what’s happening inside. The other man is still there and probably James Lester too,” Tom said as he opened the car door. “Follow them from a distance, don’t get close and don’t confront them in any way.”  
  
“Don’t worry, Tom,” Lorraine said, starting the car. “I won‘t even get out of the car, I promise. Be careful yourself!”  
  
“Don’t worry,” Tom replied, about to hide behind the bushes. “Now, go!”  
  


 

***

  
  
Tom got closer to the back of Lester’s flat, fortunately on the ground floor, and hoped he hadn’t taken the wrong decision. Maybe he should have gone with Lorraine, but the fact that they had left a man in the house made his instincts scream that something was wrong there. And as well as that, Lorraine was a very capable woman, with self-defence training and a lot of common sense; if she had said she was going to be careful, she would be. He really hoped it was enough to keep her safe, because if she got hurt because he’d left her alone, he would never forgive himself.  
  
Tom was in the back garden, looking for the safest place to get a view of the interior of the flat when somebody opened a window. He edged closer and listened carefully. Somebody was walking around the room, throwing things on the floor.  
  
When he heard the steps going away, Tom risked a brief look through the window. It was enough though to tell him that his instincts had been right. There was a man tied to a chair in the middle of a living room and what looked like an unconscious man on the floor. At least he hoped he was just unconscious.  
  
The heavy footsteps entered the room again and Tom considered his options. It looked like he would only have to fight one man, but he almost certainly had a gun and Tom hadn’t. Getting in through the window was out of the question if he wanted to take him by surprise since the man was probably standing there facing the bloke tied to the chair, which also meant he would be facing the window, as well.  
  
Tom was considering if he could pick the lock of the front door quietly enough when he heard the man moving around the room and then getting away again. Then he heard a door closing; maybe the front door? Tom listened carefully, but there were no more sounds of footsteps coming back into the room; all he could hear was the muffled yelling of the man tied to the chair, so he took a second quick look inside. Then he cursed and jumped through the window.  
  
Helen’s lackey had set the fucking room on fire and left the men there to die. The day was getting better and better. Earlier on, his only plan for the evening had been to go out with his friend for some drinks!  
  
Once inside the house, Tom saw there was not just one man unconscious on the floor, but two.  The fire was spreading fast and the smoke was starting to fill the room so there wasn't a moment to waste.  
  
He knelt by the chair and started to untie the man whose expensive suit and dark hair identified him as the probable owner of the house, James Lester. Tom didn't even try to undo the knots, he just used his Swiss army knife, Lorraine's last Christmas present, to cut the rope. He’d complained that he missed his boot knife while off duty, being terribly useful in many situations as it was, and she had handed him a small box on Christmas Day. You can't go around carrying a combat knife, Tom, but nobody would complain about an innocent Swiss army knife, she had said to him, winking. And a good little knife it was, he thought, when it cut easily through the ropes.  
  
Lester finished untangling himself while Tom grabbed one of the men from the floor and put him over his shoulder. The other one was already waking up, but the smoke was so dense that it was starting to make it difficult to breathe. Tom got out through the window, left the unconscious man on the garden and hurried back inside.  Lester was already helping the other man, who was leaning heavily against him. He was taller and looked barely conscious so he was making it very difficult for both of them to walk. Tom stepped forward to help Lester carry the man and the three of them got out of the house as quickly as they could.  
  
Once in the garden, and after a few deep breaths and some coughing, Lester took off the tie he had been gagged with, which was loosely hanging around his neck, and tossed it to the floor with disgust.  
  
"What a way to ruin a fine tie," he said before he started coughing again.  
  
"We have to warn the neighbours before the fire spreads, they have to get out!" Tom said as he took out his phone to call the firemen.  
  
"The Burtons are on holiday and the two flats on the first floor are empty. The fault of the financial crisis, the state agents said," Lester replied.  
  
The man was quite a sight. The expensive suit was totally crumpled, his shirt slightly unbuttoned and smoke-dirty and his hair was totally dishevelled, but he still looked more offended than scared.  
  
"And now it looks like I will have to move, too,” Lester said looking at the flames. “But I think I’m safe to say that it could have been worse," he added offering Tom his hand. "James Lester. I can’t thank you enough for your good timing."  
  
On the ground the tall man was helping his friend, who was already regaining consciousness.  
  
"Captain Tom Ryan," Tom said smiling and shaking Lester’s hand. "You’re very welcome."

 

.


	9. Chapter 9

 

Nick woke up after his head smashed lightly but repeatedly against a hard surface. That surface, he discovered when he opened his eyes, was the window of a moving car. They had put him on the back seat and his head had ended up falling to the side until it had started hitting the window with every bump of the road. It wasn't a nice way to wake up, but at least he wasn't dead.  
  
The memory of Lester's and the Quinn brother's fate made him sit straight with a jolt. He wondered how long he had been passed out. Were they already dead? Had Helen's minion had time to set the place in fire?  
  
"Nick, dear, I told you my men were quite literal-minded and you were indeed starting to make a fuss," Helen said from the driver’s seat. "No silliness this time, OK?"  
  
The clone, who was sitting by his side, turned his gun on him so Nick could see it clearly. There were no more words, but the menace was clear and Nick didn’t doubt the man would carry it through.  
  
There was nothing he could do in that situation so Nick focussed on the road, trying to recognize that part of the city. It looked like they had left behind the residential area and Nick could see stores and small buildings all around. There weren’t many people on the street and many businesses were showing a closure sign. It looked like Helen had wanted a secluded place for her meeting.  
  
After a few more minutes, Helen drove into a slightly more isolated area and finally stopped the car next to an abandoned warehouse that in the good times had belonged to an appliance store.  
  
“I have to meet my business partner and arrange a delivery and then we’ll have to talk very seriously,” Helen said, turning to Nick. “And let’s make this clear: what happens until I come back is completely up to you; you can be smart and wait patiently or you can try to escape and get yourself killed.”  
  
Nick opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t even start a sentence. He knew that the opportunity to reason with Helen was long gone. There was no remorse and no compassion to be expected from her. He closed his mouth again and looked back at her with great sadness.  
  
“Wait here until I come back,” Helen said to the clone. “If he tries something, you can kill him, but be discreet. We can’t attract any attention.”  
  
The clone nodded and then Helen turned and opened the car door.  
  
“I don’t know why you bother,” Nick said before she got out of the car. “Why didn’t you just leave me to die with the others?”  
  
Helen sat back and slowly turned to face Nick with a sad smile on her face. “For old times’ sake, I suppose. Who would have guessed I’m sentimental, after all?”  
  


 

***

 

  
Lorraine kept the map in front of her face while she dialled Tom’s number. She hoped it looked like she was lost and trying to find her way back, because there weren’t many reasons why she would have parked in such a deserted area. She had stopped her car in front of a different building, but she still could see Helen’s car, which meant that they could see her too.  
  
Then she saw Helen Cutter getting out of the car and walking towards the big front doors of the warehouse. Lorraine folded the map a bit to be able to watch Helen’s movements, but made sure it still covered her face. She was grateful that, GPS aside, she still had a big map in the glove box and that her car was a random black Peugeot. She couldn’t stay there for long though, she would have to move the car soon or it would definitely look suspicious.  
  
“C’mon, Tom, pick up!”  
  
She was starting to get worried about her friend. She told herself that he was a well trained SF soldier, but deep down she knew that wasn’t guarantee enough.  
  
An old truck drove down the road slowly and parked in front of the warehouse, next to where Helen was standing. A man got out of the vehicle and joined her on the sidewalk, while the driver stayed inside.  
  
“Lorraine?”  
  
Tom’s voice sent a wave of relief through Lorraine’s body. “Tom, are you OK?” she asked hurriedly. She could hear the background sound of a siren loud and clear. “What’s happened? Is James Lester all right?”  
  
“Yes, he is, we all are. It’s just that the house was more crowded than we thought at first,” he answered. “Where are you?”  
  
“I’ve followed Helen’s car to an old shopping area, not sure about the name-“  
  
“It’s OK, give me the GPS coordinates and I’ll call the cavalry. I know the man I can trust with this.”  
  
Lorraine gave him the coordinates and described the place briefly for him. Also, just in case, she gave him the number plate of Helen’s car. Then Tom told her briefly about what had happened to him and that the man Helen had kidnapped was her ex-husband, Nicholas Cutter himself.  
  
Meanwhile Lorraine could see that Helen had opened the doors of the warehouse and let the truck get inside. Then she walked in alongside the man and closed the doors behind her.  
  
“Tell your friends to hurry up, Tom,” Lorraine said. “Helen has gone inside the warehouse with the men of the truck, but the armed man is still inside the car with Nicholas Cutter.”  
  
“I will, don’t worry. You haven’t got out of the car, have you?”  
  
“No, I’m still in the car and I’m not too close, I don’t want them to see me,” she replied. “In fact the area is quite deserted. It won’t be easy for your friends to get close without them noticing.”  
  
“Don’t worry about them, they’re professionals.”  
  
“Well, I’m sure they will be fine, but Nicholas Cutter, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be in a very good position right now.” Lorraine replied.  
  
“They’ll try to get Cutter free before they strike,” Tom said. “Nobody likes a hostage situation getting messy. Now you just have to get-”  
  
Lorraine heard the voice of a man stopping Tom mid-sentence, but it was difficult to understand the words clearly.  
  
“Wait a moment, Lorraine.”  
  
All she could hear for a while was a muffled conversation, but then Tom’s voice got to her clearly again. “Lorraine? You did great, but you have to get out of there now. Don’t worry, we might have a way to help Cutter, with a bit of extra help.”

 

.


	10. Chapter 10

 

Nick didn’t know what to do. His survival skills might have improved a lot recently, but he still couldn’t think of a way to get out of the car without getting shot. There might be another chance soon, he repeated to himself, trying to keep calm.  
  
An old truck had arrived soon after they had got there and a man had joined Helen in front of the warehouse for a little chat while the driver waited at the wheel. Then Helen had opened one of the big doors and the truck had gone inside the building. The three of them had been there for quite some time now and Nick didn’t know if he should be worried about Helen or the two men.  
  
The second clone had arrived a few minutes ago and had gone inside too, after checking briefly with his partner. All he had said was a laconic ‘It’s done’, but it had twisted Nick’s stomach so hard that he had almost been sick.  
  
Nick noticed the clone was keeping a close eye on him, waiting for him to do something stupid, but at the same time the man also watched their surroundings, vigilantly. That part didn’t take him much effort though, since the area was almost deserted. The warehouse seemed to have been emptied a long time ago and there were very few cars driving around. That’s why it was so easy to spot the same old blue car coming down the road again.  
  
It wasn’t as if the driver, a man who was clearly arguing with somebody, was trying to go unnoticed though. As it got closer, the car slowed down and finally stopped just by their side.  
  
Lowering his window, the driver knocked on the clone’s window and signalled him to lower it. The clone tensed slightly, but he finally lowered it, after sending a warning look to Nick.  
  
“Oi!” the man said. “Can you help me, lad? My girlfriend here forgot the GPS and she doesn’t know how to read a map!”  
  
“That’s not true, Jason! You took the wrong turn!” the woman protested.  
  
They kept arguing, much to the annoyance of the clone. Nick, on the other hand, felt hopeful again. He had recognized the deep voice of the man called Jason as the voice of one of Danny’s masked partners. The woman, he was sure, was the other one. Nick looked at her in surprise as he also recognized the face of Caroline Steel. In the old timeline he hadn’t talked to her in person, but he had been told about Caroline’s part in Leek’s plans and her later change of heart.  
  
“We were trying to get to this damn furniture store because she wants a fancy new sofa and we’ve been driving around for ages!” Jason told them in exasperation.  
  
Then he leant down slightly to grab something from the footwell and Nick tensed and got ready for something to happen. When the man turned to face them again though, Nick saw he had a big brochure with lots of pictures of sofas in his hand.  
  
“Do you have any idea where this stupid place is?” Jason said, pushing the brochure right in front of the clone’s nose.  
  
Nick couldn’t see exactly what happened then because the big brochure was blocking the view, but the now familiar crackling sound was hint enough so as soon as he heard it, Nick quickly moved away from the clone’s body.  
  
The clone trembled and then fell limply on the seat. The brochure fell to the ground and Nick could see Jason again, now holding a taser and wearing a cheeky grin. Nick didn’t wait a second. He took the gun from the unconscious clone and got out of the car. Caroline and the man, who had got out of their car too, greeted him with big smiles when he walked towards them.  
  
“Easy with that, man,” Jason said to him when he saw the gun on Nick’s hand. “We’re here to help.”  
  
“You’re just in time again,” Nick said smiling back.  
  
“I’d like to have that back, thank you very much,” Caroline said, taking the taser from her partner and putting it inside her bag.  
  
“Danny phoned and asked us to rescue you,” Jason said. “He said he’d compensate us for all the trouble.”  
  
“Do you have news about them? Are they OK?” Nick hurriedly asked. He had felt so relieved that for a moment he’d forgotten about Danny and the others.  
  
“They’re OK, don’t worry. It looks like they had their own hero to rescue them,” Caroline answered. “Danny said your psycho ex-wife had kidnapped you and tried to kill them. By the way, where is she?”  
  
“Inside the building,” Nick answered without bothering to correct her for using the word ‘psycho’. “I’m not sure what she’s doing, but we really should go.”  
  
“I agree, I think we should be going,” Jason said immediately. “Danny also said the cavalry was coming and I don’t want to have to explain what I am doing here. It would take quite a long time.”  
  
Just as he finished talking, all the hell broke loose. Two military vehicles came out of nowhere and stopped in front of them. At the same time a helicopter appeared and started flying over the area. A full set of soldiers got out of each car and they all ran towards the warehouse except for two of them, who came up to their cars. One of them checked the clone’s vitals and the other one commanded them to stay put and not move.  
Everything seemed to be moving really fast. Nick couldn’t hear any shots being fired, but it only made him worry more, he didn’t think Helen would surrender without a fight.  
  
Caroline and her friend definitely didn’t look happy to be surrounded by soldiers and Nick could see the way they kept looking discreetly around, looking for a way out. Caroline, in particular, seemed to be quite freaked out. When Nick saw her getting her hand inside the bag, he put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
“Please don’t. I don’t think your taser has enough battery to get you out of this,” he whispered.  
  
Caroline didn’t look happy about it, but a third military van appeared and that seemed to convince her to play nice. At least for the moment. She took her hand out the bag and stood by his side, looking as surprised and innocent as possible.

 

.


	11. Chapter 11

 

In the end Helen got away. It didn’t come as a big surprise, but Nick was disappointed nevertheless.  
  
Nick, Caroline and Jason had waited outside the warehouse under the close watch of the soldiers posted outside. The raid was over quite quickly, and the soldiers came out of the building escorting the two men from the truck and one of the clones, but there was no sign of Helen or the other clone.  
  
The helicopter started flying over a bigger area and some soldiers were sent to search the surroundings. That was all Nick needed to see to know that Helen had found the way to get away yet again.  
  
When everything calmed down somewhat they were led inside the warehouse and met the person in charge of the operation. Time for more reunions with old friends, Nick thought when he recognized Captain Wilder as he walked straight up to them.  
  
Wilder was very interested in knowing their story but not as interested in answering questions, so Nick had to give up asking about Helen and start talking about  himself. Considering there was little point on lying about his identity and the reason why he was there, he decided to tell the truth, or at least a partial version of the truth that wouldn’t make him sound too crazy. He didn’t know how much these men knew about the ARC and he didn’t want to end up in the nearest asylum.  
  
Nick didn’t know what he should say about Caroline and Jason, but he got the feeling they would appreciate some discretion about their activities, so he tried to be as vague as possible. When it was their turn to talk, they both told a barely believable story about them seeing someone in danger and wanting to help. Unsurprisingly, Wilder didn’t seem at all convinced by it.  
  
“A little favour, he said,” Jason muttered when Wilder stepped aside to talk on the phone. “Danny’s going to owe us big time for this shit.”  
  
Caroline wasn’t particularly happy about the situation either, especially since they had taken her taser away.  
  
“He’s got us into trouble before, but this?” she whispered. “He’d better have a way to get us out of it.”  
  
Speak of the Devil, Nick thought when he saw Danny and Patrick being escorted inside the building. And right behind them, to his surprise, was no other than Tom Ryan, who walked in with Lester and Lorraine by his side.  
  
Patrick looked a bit nervous and tense. Danny, on the other hand, looked relaxed and confident as usual, but at least he had the decency to smile at his friends apologetically when they glared at him. Lester had obviously tried to make himself presentable, but his clothes still looked a bit crumpled and his tie was missing. The raised eyebrow and the glare told Nick that his attitude was back on top form, though.  
  
While Danny and Patrick joined their friends for a quiet conversation, Nick turned to Lorraine and smiled at her tentatively. “So you got the package,” he said.  
  
“Yes, I did, and just in time, by the look of things,” she replied.  
  
“Indeed,” Lester said. “Ms Wickes’ friend executed a very impressive last minute rescue, luckily for us.”  
  
Ryan had gone to talk to Wilder and it looked as if they already knew each. Nick really hoped that was good news. They didn’t work for Helen, but there were many reasons why they could all end up in jail if things took a wrong turn.  
  
After a while, Wilder and Ryan got closer to the group and Nick held his breath.  
  
“Well, now that you all are here and that I’ve heard so many different stories, I think it’s time you told me exactly what really happened,” Wilder said, a stern look on his face. “And no bullshit this time or you’ll join our handcuffed friends in the van."  
  
They looked at each other hesitantly and then Lorraine started talking.  
  
  


 

***

 

Nick told the whole truth, mentions of an alternative reality aside, and was relieved to see that the rest did the same. Well, Danny and his friends told a slightly modified version of their background, but they described their encounter with Helen precisely and that was what mattered. Lorraine also mentioned superficially the content of the information Nick had sent her and she didn’t mention the video at all, which helped to keep the story simple.  
Captain Wilder didn’t even blink at the mention of the anomalies. That was another good sign. He probably knew already about them and the ARC project and that would save them from very long and complicated explanations.  
  
When they all had finished, Wilder told Nick, Ryan and Lorraine to go with him and asked the rest to stay to sign some official papers.  
  
“We won’t keep you much longer,” the captain said when he saw them frowning. “After all, there’s no reason for us to detain some innocent citizens that got themselves involved in this accidentally.”  
  
After those words, he turned to leave, but Nick saw a smile tugging the corners of Wilder’s lips as he started to walk away.  
  
“Is he really going to let them go?” Nick asked Ryan as they followed Wilder outside.  
  
“Well, I think it really depends on what James Lester says,” Ryan answered. “After all they got into his house and tied him up. Well, three of you did, at least.”  
  
“I admit that wasn’t the brightest idea ever,” Nick said, sighing.  
  
He really hoped Danny and his friends wouldn’t get in trouble because of him, but if Lester decided to call the police, he didn’t think they could get away so easily again.  
  
“So... does Wilder know about the anomalies too?” Nick asked.  
  
“Yes, he’s been involved in some missions. And I’ve known him a long time, he’s an honest man. I knew I could count on him in a situation like this.”  
  
Wilder got them to one of the vehicles and asked them to get in.  
  
“We’re going to have a more thorough conversation somewhere more comfortable,” he said.  
  
“Thanks for responding so quickly to my call, Joe,” Ryan said once they’d all got into the car. “There weren’t many people I could trust to believe me with this story.”  
  
“You’re welcome, Tom,” he replied. “But to be totally honest, there was already an ongoing operation to uncover Helen Cutter’s activities. Your call just made us rush it.”  
  
The driver didn’t wait for any indication from Wilder and he started driving away immediately.  
  
“Where are we going?” Nick asked.  
  
“To the ARC,” Wilder answered. “There are some people waiting for us there.”

 

.


	12. Chapter 12

 

Theirs wasn’t a tourist trip, so Nick could only have a short look at the ARC on their way to the meeting room where a representative of the Home Secretary was already waiting for them.  
  
Nick caught a glimpse of Connor’s and Becker’s shocked faces as he entered the building, but they weren’t the only ones surprised by what was happening. Every face turned to look as the well-known fugitive Nicholas Cutter walked in with Captain Wilder by his side. It looked as if nobody had informed the ARC staff about the recent events.  
  
They were interrogated separately and then brought together into a room to explain everything all over again. It was long and tedious, and Nick had never been a very patient man, but for his own sake, he tried his best. By the end of their second retelling of the story, though, he wasn’t the only one that was starting to show annoyance. Lorraine’s answers had started sounding uncharacteristically sarcastic a while ago and Nick had caught the usually stoic-looking Ryan rolling his eyes once or twice.  
  
Eventually the civil servants seemed satisfied with their answers and the atmosphere relaxed considerably.  
  
“We’d love to hear Helen Cutter’s version too, but unfortunately we haven’t managed to find her yet,” the man from the Home Office said. “We’re hoping her business partners will be more talkative, though. We found enough evidence in the warehouse, including some small dinosaurs from the Cretaceous, to make their lives very difficult if they don’t help us to find her.”  
  
“Helen could literally be anywhere by now. You know that she has an anomaly opening device like mine, don’t you?”  
  
“Yes, we do now. A very useful device we could have made good use of if she had shared it with us,” he answered. “But she kept that and many other things from us, so it seems.”  
  
“How did you find out she had her own agenda?” Lorraine asked.  
  
“One of the civil servants she approached wasn’t as easily corruptible as she thought. He decided to play along, but immediately reported her activities to us.”  
  
“Good to hear that,” Nick replied. “But she played around freely for quite a long time.”  
  
“We wanted to get more information about her contacts before making a move against her, but unfortunately, due to recent events, we have had to improvise,” the man said with just a hint of reproach in his voice. “Now we’ll have to arrest her accomplices before the news spreads and they decide to destroy all evidence and run away. This is going to cause some drastic changes in the Home Office steps, I fear.”  
  
Nick was tired, but he managed not to add anything to that last comment.  
  
“Now, Captain Ryan and Ms Wickes are free to go, but there’s something we still have to discuss with Professor Cutter,” the man added after a moment. “There’s a video and some relevant information in the documents you sent to Ms Wickes that we want to talk about further.”  
  
  


***

 

  
  
There was indeed a small earthquake in the Home Office and very especially in the ARC, but unlike the first time everything had drastically changed around him, this time, when the ground stopped moving, Nick liked where he was. It wasn’t perfect, but he had to accept that it was the closest thing it was ever going to be.  
  
They offered him a job on the ARC project due to his wide experience with the anomalies and Nick gladly accepted. He wasn’t going to be the director though, since that post was assigned to James Lester himself. It looked like Lester had known how to play his cards when the heads had started rolling in the Home Office. And maybe Nick’s good words about Lester’s work on the other timeline had helped too.  
  
Lorraine got promoted to Head of Administration and whatever that was exactly, she seemed happy so Nick congratulated her with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, she was probably one of the few old members of the ARC that was happy after the whole change.  
  
All the workers in the ARC project were investigated to try to find any possible minion Helen could have inside, but no one was found. Security measures were increased anyway and more members of the Special Forces were assigned to the project, forming a second team under the command of Captain Ryan. Even Nick could see that had stung Becker. His actions and loyalty had never been officially questioned, but the fact that they had added another team to the ARC was probably seen by Becker as a sign of mistrust. He was still competent and serious about the job, but his relationship with Ryan and Nick was strained, to say the least.  
  
And what to say about Connor and Stephen? The first one had wandered around the ARC like a kicked puppy for quite some time, but it looked like he was slowly starting to get over Helen’s betrayal. Nick hoped he could get the young man’s trust back soon. Stephen on the other hand, Nick didn’t know how to deal with. He seemed less affected by Helen’s actions than Connor, but Nick knew that Helen had hurt him deeply. Stephen’s attitude was professional but cold and he seemed to be distancing himself from the rest of the team. If Nick could just find a way to get closer to him, but he didn’t even know how to start.  
  
Lester was as stuck-up as he remembered, but at least this time Nick knew that deep down, under the expensive suits and fancy ties, there was a good and honest man. Lester had even refused to report Danny and his brother for breaking into his house and they had managed to get away again. Lester did the same for him and overall, behaved like a reasonable boss so Nick tried to be nice and not to argue with him about the paperwork. Not very often, at least.  
  
The fact that there was no sign of Helen was probably what worried Nick the most. He knew she wasn’t going to give up so easily, but time passed and there was no timeline change that he could notice, so Nick thought that maybe she had finally decided to stop playing god.  
  
Or maybe she was just taking her time to plot her revenge. Nick didn’t doubt they would see her again, but this time, when she came back, they all will be ready.

  
  
End


End file.
